Physical Activity and Nutrition Intervention in Afterschool Programs

November 12, 2020 updated by: Michael Beets, University of South Carolina

Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies, Obesogenic Behaviors and Weight Outcomes

The investigators long-term goal is to advance the adoption and successful implementation of policies that promote PA and nutrition in after school programs (ASP) nationwide. The investigators objective here is two fold. First, the investigators will test the effectiveness of two promising strategies designed to 1) increase the amount of PA children accumulate while attending an ASP and 2) promote changes in the nutritional quality of the snacks served. This represents a fundamental step in establishing practice-based guidelines (best practices) for the uptake and achievement of public health policy goals (CA and Harvard). Second, the investigators will examine the barriers and facilitators to implementing these strategies. The expected outcome of this study is evidence supporting best practices for ASPs to employ to meet policy goals.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The investigators will use a 3-year delayed treatment, cluster randomized controlled trial design with 20 ASPs that serve mostly low-income and minority children (approximately 1300 children ages 6-12yrs) in Columbia, SC and address the following specific aims: Aim 1. Evaluate the impact of a staff-level intervention, a professional development training program focused on core competencies to promote physical activity, on children's physical activity levels; Aim 2. Evaluate the impact of a site-level intervention, a snack modification program that includes a discount buying program, on the quality of snacks served and consumed; and Aim 3. Evaluate the implementation of the staff-level and site-level interventions and identify organizational, staff, and setting characteristics that influence the process of implementing these strategies.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

2635

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Programs that:

  • Operate immediately after the school day
  • Operate every day of the school year for a minimum of 2 hours
  • Serve a minimum of 30 children of elementary age (6-12 years)
  • Operate in a school, community or faith Setting
  • Provide a snack
  • Provide homework assistance/completion time
  • Provide enrichment
  • Provide opportunities for physical activity
  • All children enrolled, staff, and afterschool program (ASP) leaders in the ASPs were eligible to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Programs that:
  • Were singularly focused
  • Programs that were physical activity focused

Children that:

  • Have any physical and/or orthopedic impairment that would limit a child's ability to participate in regular physical activity.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate Intervention
Over the 3 year project, this arm receives the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity intervention after year 1 (baseline) for a total of 2 years (year 2 and 3).
Create partnerships with ASPs to help facilitate changes in programming to meet the National Afterschool Alliance's HEPA Standards.
Other Names:
  • HEPA
Experimental: Delayed Intervention
Over the 3 year project, this arm serves as the no treatment control/comparison group for year 1 and 2 (2 years of baseline) and receives the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity intervention in year 3 for a total of 1 year.
Create partnerships with ASPs to help facilitate changes in programming to meet the National Afterschool Alliance's HEPA Standards.
Other Names:
  • HEPA

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Percentage of Children Meeting Physical Activity Policy
Time Frame: Spring of Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3
We will assess the number of children meeting the physical activity policy of 30 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The primary physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior outcome was derived via accelerometry. All children attending an ASP on unannounced measurement days had an opportunity to wear the ActiGraph GT3X+. The accelerometers were distilled using 5-second epochs. When children arrived to a program, they were fitted with an accelerometer and the arrival time was recorded (monitor time on). Before a child departed from a program, research staff removed the belt and recorded the time of departure (monitor time off). Children wore the monitors for their entire attendance at the ASPs. Cutpoint thresholds associated with moderate and vigorous activity were used to distill the PA intensity levels and sedentary behavior. Children were considered to have a valid day of accelerometer data if their total wear time (time off minus time on) was ≥60 minutes.
Spring of Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in Nutritional Quality of Snacks
Time Frame: Spring of Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3
We will assess quality of snacks served at the ASPs in terms of number of fruits and vegetables served per week. These analyses were performed at the ASP level with a sample size of 20 (10 per arm)
Spring of Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Michael W Beets, PhD, University of South Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 13, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 21, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

May 22, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 16, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 12, 2020

Last Verified

November 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1R01HL112787-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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